Rating: PG-13 (For language mostly.)
Category: Angst, Post RofF, BtVS cross-over
Content: A/C
Summary: Angel sees no point in going on after he finds out Cordelia slept with Conner. But can the Scoobies and the AI's save Angel from killing himself, even if it is to save the world from the apocolypse?
Disclaimer: The characters in the Angelverse were created by
Joss Whedon & David Greenwalt. No infringement is intended, no profit
is made.
Notes: Yes, I added the Scoobies. And this is a sad story. There
is another story to this one. But I need some serious feedback if you want
it.
Feedback: Yes Please. Especially if you want the next stories in the sequence.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Angel stared, heartbreak and hatred apparent in his eyes as he was tortured
with the ingraved vision of the woman he
Six hours later Angel walked downstairs and into the lobby. Everyone
was asleep. Gunn sitting up on a couch with
Cordelia paced nervously around the small, torn down apartment. She
saw Conner tossing and turning in the bed.
Angel stood in the dark area of the alley way. Right in front of where
the thing had broken through. He held a globe
The AI's and the Scoobies pulled up in the car, not exactly sure where
Angel was. They jumped out of the car.
Wesley looked at Buffy.
Outside, everything seemed the same. The sky had stopped falling, the
demon was gone. But it wasn't the same.
End.
loved writhing beneath the only son he would ever have, even as he
walked slowly back to the building where he had
left Gunn, Wesley, and Lorne. As he walked, people ran in the opposite
direction, screaming and crying as the fire fell
from the sky, missing him. Angel sighed a shakey sigh. *Too Bad.* He
thought morbidly. *Death wouldn't be so bad.*
He was back at the building by now, still deep in thought.
"How are they?" Wesley asked, genuine concern in his voice. He still
cared deeply about all of them and was happy
to be back in the fight with them. Even if it probably was temporary.
"Just fine! Having the time of their lives!" He didn't mean for his
tone to be so harsh, but dammit! Why did this
ALWAYS happen to him. He groaned. It was inevitable.
"What?" Wesley asked, in unison with the now conscious Lorne and Gunn.
"Nothing." Angel said, avoiding them so they wouldn't see everything
that was so visible in his eyes.
"Angel..." Wesley said in that tone that could either piss him off
or get him talking. Always one or the other.
"I said nothing!" He yelled.
just, we'll talk when we get back to the hotel. Hopefully Fred'll be
there..." He hoped changing the subject worked.
"Fred! Oh God! We gotta go!" Gunn went to stand up and nearly fell
over. Angel caught him quickly.
"You're still weak. I doubt running would be very smart." They arrived
at the hotel, where Fred was waiting with tear
streaked eyes, impatiently for them. She saw Gunn and tightly embraced
him immediately. He grunted in pain but
returned the hug gently.
"Oh Charles! I'm sorry! I didn't mean for us to fight! And then what
happened now with the fire! I'm sooooo sorry!"
She clung to him tightly and started to cry again. Now he hugged her
fiercely.
"Shhh. Fred, it's okay."
"No it's not! You could've died, again! And then, me, and you, and
we would never see each other again!"
"But it didn't. I'm here."
"And, and you're okay?" She calmed slightly.
"Yeah. Thanks to English here." Fred smiled at Wesley.
"Thank you." She said. He returned the smile.
"Well, I couldn't very well let him die, could I?" As there conversation
progressed, Angel gethered the papers they
had and crept up stairs, slamming his door.
"What's wrong with Angel?" Fred asked.
"I don't know." Lorne said. "But I sensed some serious vibes in the
brooding zone."
"That's never good."
"I know. Espescially with the waves he's sending off."
"What can we do?" Gunn asked.
"Nothing. He took our papers up there, so at least he's not just sitting
up there and brooding."
"Or sketching."
"Or ploting."
"We get it." Lorne said.
Up stairs, Angel pulled out the lab top no one knew he had and started
to look for a way to end the apocolypse.
his head back. Fred's head was on his lap, her body stretched on the
couch. Wesley was in Angel's office, his head
was barried in a book as he slept. Lorne was probably in his room.
He crept to the fridge and pulled out a thing of
blood. He didn't even know why he was eating in the first place. *Strength.*
He reminded himself. Fred's eyes shifted
as his shadow played across her eyelids. She opened them and saw him.
"Angel?" He smiled and mouthed 'shhh.' Gunn's eyes opened as he felt
Fred move.
"Angel. Hey man. How ya doing?" *Too late.* Angel thought as Wesley
now entered and Lorne came downstairs.
"Guess I'm really losing my touch, huh?" He said.
"What's up?" Wesley asked noticing the papers Angel held in his hands.
Printed papers.
"Um. I found a way to end the apocolypse."
"Really? Well, good for you Angelcakes." Lorne said happily, thankful
he wasn't going crazy on them. "How?"
"I haven't gotten everything straight but I'm sure of this."
"What?" Wesley asked.
"It says, ' To end the Raining of Fire, the vampire with a soul will
sacrifices himself for humanity." Silence only.
"In other words you have to kill yourself." Fred said matter of factly.
"Pretty much."
"No. There's gotta be another way. Charles tell him!"
"There's not." Angel said, a slight smirk on his face.
"You want this don't you?" Gunn asked.
"Yeah. Actually, I do. End the apocolypse and be gone from this world.
It's a win-win situation.
"And what's with the sudden desire to off yourself?" Gunn asked harshly.
"Nothing."
"Come on man. We know there's something up, so spill it!"
"You really wanna know?! Fine! I went to go check on Cordy and Conner
and guess what I found. The woman who
claims to love me in bed with my eighteen year old son!" They were
all dumbfounded.
"You sure there sweety? I don't think our Cordy would do something
like that." Lorne said.
"I'm two hundred-fifty years old. I think I know sex when I see it,
okay?!"
"So you're going to kill yourself?" Wesley asked sarcastically.
"No, I'm going to save the world. Again." There was a very long, uncomfortable
silence.
"You're right Angel." Welsey said.
"What?!" Fred and Gunn yelled.
"Thanks Wes."
"So, have you found out all the information?"
"Of course I have."
"So, you know what language you need to use to summon it?"
"Yeah, Melechian."
"So, have you translated the entire language." Angel saw where this
was going, so he gave in.
"Practically. I just need to finish up the last part of the summoning
spell." He lied and went upstairs.
"What the hell was that about?" Gunn asked, angrily.
"Believe it or not, I'm not insane. Come on. We have to go."
"Where?"Fred asked.
"We have to knock some sense into Angel. Now who's the only person
who can do that without being granted a
death wish?" He asked. They smiled.
"The Princess." Lorne said.
"Exactly. Now come on. We have't much time."
She groaned. What the hell did she get herself into? How could she
do that? And with Angel's son? (Oh God.
Angel.) How could she do that to Him? She shook her head. Conner took
in a heavy breath and woke up. He wasn't
feeling as great as he thought he would. In fact, he felt a painful
tug at his heart and soul. /What is that?/ He
wondered.
"Conner. About last night...I, we, we shouldn't-" There was a knock
on the door.
"No one ever knocks. The only people who ever come bust through the
doors or windows."
"I know." She went and opened the door, while Conner pulled up and
buttoned his pants. "Wesley! Gunn! Fred!
Lorne! Hey! How are you guys? I'm glad you're okay! Wait. Where's Angel?"
"So it's true." Gunn said, looking at Conner.
"What?" She asked.
"Nothing." Wesley interrupted. "We need your help Cordelia."
"What's wrong?" Conner asked.
"Nothing that isn't your fault." Gunn said.
"Gunn!" Wesley yelled. "Not now." He muttered. Gunn shut up with a
deadly glared toward Cordelia and Conner.
Conner knew that glare a little too well. Gunn was pissed.
"What's going on?" Cordy asked, becoming frightened.
"Cordy, Angel's lost it." Fred took over now.
"What do you mean?"
"He found a way to end the apocolypse. But it results in his destruction."
Cordelia's mouth dropped.
"So he's going to kill himself?" Conner asked surprised. Wesley nodded.
"I could help, you know, try to talk to him and stuff. But, I can't
exactly over power him, you know?"
"I can." Conner said.
"No you can't. Especially not when he's in mass destruction mode."
"That's why I called for back up three hours ago."
"Meaning...?" Cordy asked. Wesley gave her an apoligetic look. "Wes!
You didn't!"
"Cordy. Who else can over power Angel but the slayer?" Cordelia groaned
in frustrtion.
"Why would the vampire slayer help us? Don't we want to keep him alive?"
"She'd never kill Angel."
"Why not?"
"Cause she's his ex!" Cordy yelled. Conner was in shock.
"Slayer and a vampire slayer?"
"Yeah! Ironic much?! Oh, because their love was SOOO strong it could
over power anything! Pfft!"
"Sounds like someone's jealous." Gunn said. She glared.
"Duh!! I'm only in love with the idiot!"
"Then let them help." Wesley said. Cordy looked at him, on the verge
of tears and nodded. They went downstairs
and met up with the Scoobies, exchanged hello's, and went to the Hyperion.
When there, all they found was an
empty hotel. He had one-uped them all.
"Where is he?" Buffy asked in a panick. Willow, Xander, Dawn, Anya,
and Spike with her. Spike was NOT happy
at all about the whole having to save Angel thing. But he loved Buffy,
and she loved Angel, so he would do
anything to save her from even more pain.
"Obviously not here." Conner said. Everyone leered at him, including
Cordelia. "Sorry."
"Did he say anything at all about where he was going?" Cordy asked
hopeful.
"Nope. He was using his lap top, which I didn't even know he had. I
didn't even know he knew how to turn on a
computer. Let alone know how to work it and find research that we couldn't
even find. It was pretty cool. In the
kinda creepy way."
"Does she always ramble like that?" Spike asked annoyed.
"Only when she's nervous. So shut up." Gunn said, sticking up for Fred.
"Ooooh. I'm so scared." Spike said taking a step towards Gunn.
"If you had any sense you would be." Gunn said, steping to Spike.
"Oh, knock it off!" Cordelia screamed. They shut up and looked at her.
"Bring me the laptop, okay?" Gunn got it
and handed it to Cordy, who handed it to Fred. "Pull up everything
Angel has used in the last twenty-four hours.
And I mean everything. Websites, documents, whatever. Got it?" Fred
smiled and nodded. "Wes you check all
the books. Willow? You help Wesley, okay? You know Angel and his demonology."
She smirked.
"Who died and put you in charge?" Buffy asked angrily. They needed
her help, not Cordelia's.
"No one. And I'd really like to keep it that way. Especially since
it involves Angel."
"What are you, sleeping with him?" Cordelia glared at Buffy.
"Not exactly. But neither are you so-"
"Enough!" Everyone stared at Conner. "God, you guys are really annoying.
No wonder my dad left you. Well, and
the whole you sending him to hell thing." Everyone couldn't help but
laugh. Except Buffy, that is.
"Who the hell do you think you are! And it's not like I meant to kill
him! I didn't exactly have a choice! And how do
you know all this! And what buisness is it off your anyway!"
"She can't shut up can she?" He asked. Everyone continued laughing.
"Okay!" Cordy said. "That's it. Buffy. This is Conner. He's Angel's
son." Buffy gwaked at Cordelia along with the
other Scoobies. "Yeah, yeah. Big thing. Never supposed to happen. Anyways-"
"Eureka!" Wesley yelled, holding up the book he had been looking through.
"I can't believe he still says that." Lorne said, rolling his eyes.
"Shut up." He said. "I know where Angel is." The room grew silent.
"Where?" They all asked in unison.
"The alley." He said. The AI's all knew what he was talking about.
"What's 'The Alley?'" Buffy asked, mocking Wesley's tone.
"Where the kid was born." Lorne said. "Any one else wanna drink?"
"Lorne!" Cordelia said. "This is so not a time for jokes. We gotta
go!"
"Easy there Pixiecat. Don't get your panties all in a bunch. I wanna
save the big lug as much as you do." He argued.
"I know Lorne. I'm sorry. I'm just..." Tears once again ran down Cordelia's
face. Lorne wrapped his arms around her.
"He's my best friend. I can't lose him." She said between sobs.
"Then we should go." She nodded and wiped her eyes. They all grabbed
some weapons and went to go get Angel
and bring him back, the Scoobies all the while wondering what had happened
to Cordelia to make her actually have
a heart.
almost identical to the orb Jenny Calender had used to try and restore
his soul. He groaned. Just another death
tugging at his heart and another reason to give the fight up. He held
the orb in his hands and started to chant.
"Gog sutthok olt slivgen ud brialt! Wisler friou kakaroth! Fothoris
cren bisrilat! Bobispat snarleth krre greong!"
"Where is he?" Cordelia said in a panick.
"I don't know." Fred answered, equally terrified. They all started
to talk and yell.
"Shut up!" Conner yelled. They all stared at him. He was silent and
strained his hearing. Faintly, he could hear
Angel chanting. "This way!" He started to run. They struggled to keep
up. Then they saw him. The orb he had in
his hands was glowing a bright white.
"Gog vistoth magog bylend!" The color changed to an orange color.
"Angel don't!" Angel knew she was there, he sensed them all as soon
as they approached. But he couldn't lose his
concentration, so he continued with the last few words. The orb started
to glow red.
"Cunow shilleptor saffold!" It exploded and sent Angel flying into
the group. Cordelia ran to him immediately. A
piece of glass was in his cheek.
"Hold still." She whispered in his ear. She tried to pull it out gently.
He growled in pain and vamped out. Buffy
figured she would freak out and move away. But she didn't. She just
smacked him on his arm. "I'm trying to help
you, so stop flinching!" He growled. "And stop growling!" He leered
at her with his golden eyes. She smiled at
him and he couldn't help but return it. "That better?" She asked, holding
up the glass. He shook his head.
"No. It still hurts." He said glaring at her again. And at that moment,
she knew he knew about Conner.
"Angel no."
"Don't. Just don't." And he stood up, brushing himself off and looking
at the monster in front of him. Conner
step next to him.
"Ready?" He asked. Angel looked at him.
"Get back." He growled.
"What? Dad. You don't have to do this alone."
"Don't call me that. Now get back there." His tone was deadly and Conenr
had to obey. Angel grabbed the sword
he brought from the hotel and stalked to the demon.
"I thought the knife in your neck and the throwing you over the building
was enough for you." Angel smirked.
"I'm just getting started." The group watched in horror as Angel got
pummled.
"He's not even trying! Come on Angel! Kick some ass already!" Cordy
yelled. It wasn't working. Now she was
getting pissed off. Cordelia began to walk toward the fight, when the
demon shoved the sword through Angel's
heart. The group ran to him as he fell. He removed the sword from his
body and smiled at the monster.
"Thank you." He said. Dust exploded everywhere. But when it cleared,
Angel was there. His face was one of pain,
no longer hiden behind his vampire mask.
"Oh God, Angel." Cordelia and Buffy both said. Angel's hand went to
the gash in his chest as he gasped
repeatedly for air. Conner worked his way in and stared in terror as
he watched his father dying. Cordelia grabbed
his hand and squeezed it. He returned the squeeze. Conner squeezed
into Angel's view. With his last breath he
whispered to them both.
"I love you. I love you both so much." He looked at Conner. "Take care
of her." He gasped. Conner's eyes welled
up with tears like when Holtz had died.
"Dad. Please..." But it was too late. Angel was dead. All the women
in the room began to cry. Fred leaned her head
in Gunn's chest and he wrapped his arms around her. All the men were
still and tense. Almost frozen. A fire ball
came into the alley and hit Angel's body. Everyone backed away. Buffy
leaned into Willow hysterical. Willow
crying as well. Gunn watched as Conner and Cordelia cry. He became
infuriated.
"You two have no right to sit there and cry! You caused this."
"What!" The Scoobies, Cordelia, and Conner asked.
"Yeah! You two!"
"We did not! He did this to save all of us!"
"No he didn't!" Fred screamed. "He did it because he was hurting! Because
he knew!"
"Fred stop it!" Cordy screamed.
"She doesn't have to!" Now Wesley started. They stared at him. "This
is all your fault! You're the one who
screwed his son!" They all stared at Cordelia. "You are the reason
he wanted to die. And now look. We didn't
want to believe it Cordelia. But we all know it's true. I guess it
really wasn't worth it, was it?" Everyone, save
Conner and Cordelia, walked to the car.
"You want to stay at the hotel for a while?" Buffy nodded.
"I might need some closure. I mean,... he's really gone, isn't he?"
She asked, the tears coming back.
"I know it's hard to believe." He said. "You can stay here as long
as you need to." She smiled at him and gave him
a hug.
"Thank you Wesley." He returned the smile. After everyone was up in
their rooms, Wesley came downstairs and
walked into the living room. He plopped down onto the couch. A stray
tear escaped. He wouldn't admit it, but he
cared about Angel. The man was like his brother. And now he was gone.
And it never would be, because the hero had fallen. And now, everything
would fall as well.